A typical process of running an MCD involves a number of steps. To illustrate, a typical process may involve drilling a conductor hole to a desired depth and coupling a number of casings together to have a needed casing length. After the needed length of a casing is assembled, a high pressure wellhead is connected to the top joint of the casing. A running tool, designed for running the high pressure wellhead, is connected to the high pressure wellhead to run the high pressure wellhead to a conductor wellhead housing at the seafloor. To illustrate, a running string, which can consist of drill pipe or a thicker wall higher tensile strength pipe, may be attached to the running tool used to run the high pressure wellhead. The high pressure wellhead, along with the attached casing, is lowered to or near the seafloor where the high pressure wellhead is placed in the conductor wellhead.
After placement of the high pressure wellhead with the attached casing on the conductor wellhead housing, the casing is cemented in place by pumping cement down through the running string, where some of the cement returns to the sea floor on the outside of the casing. After the running tool used to run the high pressure wellhead is released from the high pressure wellhead and pulled from the seafloor back to the surface, and after the cement that is pumped down has time to harden, the MCD is run and connected to the high pressure wellhead that is seated in the conductor wellhead housing. The MCD is then pressure and function tested. The separate steps of running the high pressure wellhead and running the MCD, as well as the time for hardening of the pumped down cement, can take multiple days and can be expensive.
Further, a typical process of actuating a locking mechanism that is between the conductor wellhead housing and high pressure wellhead uses a lockdown tool that slips over the outside of the high pressure wellhead. To illustrate, after the lockdown tool is placed over the outside of the high pressure wellhead, tension is applied to the lockdown tool to latch and pre-load the high pressure wellhead to the conductor wellhead. The conductor wellhead housing and the high pressure wellhead are then held in place by the actuated lockdown mechanism. After the pre-loading process is completed, the lockdown tool is recovered to the surface (e.g., the offshore rig). Because the lockdown tool is placed over the top of the high pressure wellhead and then is slipped off the high pressure wellhead, the lockdown tool prevents running other equipment, such as an MCD, attached to the top of the high pressure wellhead in the same step as the running of the high pressure wellhead.
Thus, a running tool assembly, system, and process for running the MCD along with the high pressure wellhead and casing in a single trip can save time and reduce cost. Further, a lockdown tool and process that allow equipment that attaches to the high pressure wellhead to be run at the same time as the high pressure wellhead can save time and reduce cost.